Civic apathy continues in Dwarka. This time it’s a vacant plot behind Maxfort School in Sector 7. AK Parashar, a resident of Sri Agrasen Apartments, narrates his experience to City Spidey.

Parashar recalls, "Today, at about 9.15 am, I was walking down the lane when I noticed smoke from behind Maxfort School. On reaching the spot, hardly 500 m from my society, I found the garbage on fire there. I immediately tried to reach out to all senior officers of the corporation, but to no avail. Finally, I managed to talk to South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) DC Sanjeev Kumar, who promised immediate action.”

He continues, “I got a young man to help me, who brought water from his house on his scooter. I tried dousing the fire. In the meantime, officials of SDMC reached the spot, but they hadn’t thought of informing the fire brigade, which arrived on the spot at 10.40 am, followed by the police."

Though Parashar has tried to draw the attention of senior civic officials to the problem of open burning of garbage, nothing has changed. He says, “It’s a sad situation. The mayor, the MLA, the counsellor and senior officers of SDMC — all — are busy playing the blame game.”

What Parashar narrated is a scene that unfolds in almost every party of the sub-city, despite residents, RWAs and social organisations speaking up against the practice.

The NGO, Green Circle, has written on the matter to different agencies.

Green Circle member V Selvarajan is a resident of Diamond Square Apartments of Sector 6, and also the secretary of Federation of CGHS. He laments, "There have been several cases of garbage burning in blatant violation of NGT (National Green Tribunal) directives. We had registered our complaint — dated 31.3.17 — against open burning of garbage by SDMC workers in municipal dumping sheds. Subsequently, we took up the matter with the ministry of environment. Our complaint was closed by them without specifying any reason. But when we persisted, we learnt that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had forwarded the complaint to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), which was forwarded back to the SDMC. I feel the only way out is mass protests. And we’ll not hesitate to initiate such a step if open garbage burning doesn't stop."

Munish Kundra, a resident of Brahma Apartments in Sector 7, too, has raised his voice against burning of garbage near his society. He has also written to Dwarka administration, but there has been no response so far.

Pulkeet Mehra, a resident of Appu Enclave in Sector 11, shares a pertinent point. He says, "In one particular incident, I had called the fire brigade and they, surprisingly, did not know a very popular landmark close to their own station. There’s a dire need for training and improving response time."